The chef rules a small kingdom

The kitchen is a small kingdom, and the pretender to this crown a sad character.

There's nearly always one  either the head chef, the manager, or somebody who wants to be one or the other.

This is a person who just wants to be the boss. There's no telling why; people are small and pathetic, sometimes.

One of the main conceits of the kitchen tyrant is that
he or she is just doing their job, and that being a big
pantload is the necessary method. At core, this
person doesn't really care whether or not you do the job
correctly, but just wants to be the one to tell you
what to do.

The kitchen is, without a doubt, a stressful job,
and that's not the only criticism against the industry.
There are those who can handle it, and those who cannot.
The worst are those who think they can, but really cannot, and who pass along the stress of their twisted soul. Tortured by long hot dirty hours for little money  they need somebody to blame, for anything.

These sad characters will often impose unnecessary stress upon co-workers, ostensibly because "it's a tough industry." It is that, indeed  mostly because of people like this.

I've known chefs  not many  who truly enjoy the buzz of
a kitchen. A great many head chefs appear to be pretty miserable. They may act proud of their knowledge and skill, but seem terribly insecure and are prone to
counterproductive displays.

My least favorite of these counterproductive displays is the nasty big-dog habit of trying
to dominate coworkers. That, I can't tolerate. It's why I hate the industry.

 Ireland, sometime before 2002,* when I left the restaurants (thus far.) ...